Classroom Teachers’ Perceptions of Ethical Educational Work

Veera Aijasaho, Kyösti Vaismaa, Satu Uusiautti, Kaarina Määttä

Abstract

Rearing is one of the fundamental forms of human life: through learning and education, various cultural practices are transmitted from a generation to another. The school environment can be seen as a moral community from the ethical point of view of education. Teachers are moral actors in this community. But what is ethical educational work in teachers’ own opinion? In this research, Finnish classroom teachers’ perceptions of ethical education and its nature and significance at school were studied. The purpose was to study teachers’ basic values and how they employ them in practice. The research was a phenomenographic research and the data were collected through semi-structured theme interviews. The phenomenographic analysis method was applied. Teachers’ self-reflection was regarded as the primary tool for developing ethical educational work. Based on the results, a model of the nature of ethical educational practice was created and further discussed. The purpose of this research was to encourage teachers to contemplate and realize education in versatile ways critically reflecting their own values and beliefs and to show the significance of teachers’ action at various levels in practical educational work.